Workers involved in the cleaning process began complaining of eye and throat irritation due to exposure to the gas.

At least 19 people were hospitalised following the leakage of chlorine gas in a small village on the city outskirts, district officials said on Friday.

The incident took place last night due to leakage in the valve of a chlorine gas cylinder, when the process of chlorination in a drinking water tank located in Por village was underway, they said.

Those affected after their exposure to the gas, including the workers involved in the cleaning process, were admitted to the state-run Sayajirao hospital here when they began complaining of eye and throat irritation, Vadodara district collector Lochan Sehra said.

The village is located on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway.

A team of officials from the company which supplies gas cylinders for chlorination purposes rushed to the spot and and defused the cylinder into nearby Dhadhar river.

Meanwhile, Dr Rajeev Deveshwar Gupta, superintendent of Sir Sayajirao General Hospital told PTI that the condition of all the affected people is stable.